Speech Pathology

I first became familiar with speech therapy when a young cousin needed help with her speech impediment. Her mother and the teachers at the school helped develop a plan to help improve her speech, which involved a weekly session with a speech therapist. I never thought much more about it until my great uncle had a stroke and lost much of his ability to speak. A speech therapist was employed by the rehabilitation nursing home he was sent to, and she helped him regain much of his ability to communicate. This made me realize that there is an amazing need for speech therapy in both the younger and older generations.

Geriatric speech therapy has become an increasingly popular field. Baby boomers have brought the elderly population to new heights, with an even larger increase expected in the near future. This has led to an increase in the demand in speech therapists that specialize in helping elderly patients. Some of these patients need general help due to the natural aging process, while others need help with specific problems related to an underlying medical condition.

I remember being a child in school, seeing the other children that used to be picked up by school aides for speech therapy. I knew that they were leaving for speech, but I didn’t really know what that was or why it was necessary. I just knew that I wanted to go and that I was so jealous of those kids who got to leave class, regardless of why it was.

A dear friend of mine, Sarah, is a school speech pathologist. Her position is also referred to as a speech therapist. During her years working with students she has come across numerous interesting challenges but none touched her the way Navi did. Navi was a student from Sri Lanka. In addition to being raised in a non-English speaking area and before he was transferred to an American public school, he also had medical problems that were making it impossible for him to speak. The most prominent medical issue was a severe cleft palate that had been untreated in his home country. In fact, his mother moved to America hoping to find treatment for her son. Other medical problems exacerbated the issue making speech acquisition almost impossible for the child. When my friend first encountered him, he was already in sixth grade. [continue reading…]